Midnight Hunt
by Papery
Summary: It's been a month since Jessica Day was trapped in the blue time. She makes a pact with the old ones and thinks she's finally free. But her foolish actions set in motion something much more serious than any midnighter has encountered before. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Jessica Day had been trapped in the midnight for only a week.

But that was one week too long.

Unlike how the other midnighters thought, she was not merely 'sleeping' during the other 24 hours of the day. Rather, she was like a ghost, not a part of her body while it was frozen in the non-midnight, but not completely gone. During the day, she watched Jonathan, her parents, her younger sister. She walked as a normal person did, but being unable to touch anything, or even just communicate, it almost didn't seem worth it at first.

Then she figured out that thanks to physics, something could not be without having mass.

And so the communications began.

First, she communicated with Jonathan, rather than her sister, who may not interpret the signs properly. At first Jonathan didn't understand what the strange things happening had meant -- although they saw one another and hour, once a day, she just could not bear being able to see him but not touch him, feel him, speak with him.

For some reason, whenever she tried to tell him about this secret part of the midnight, the wonderful part that she had figured out, she found herself unable to find the words to explain it, her brain drawing a blank. Almost as if the disappeared darklings were trying to keep the final thing about their secret land that they had left, hidden. It was much like when Maddy had locked part of Dess' mind away to hide it from Melissa.

Eventually, Jonathan figured it out as much as he could, although he didn't fully understand it, he didn't care. He was talking to Jessica, and that was all that mattered to him. Eventually Jessica found that she could write messages in sand or dirt and not just make signs in smoke and other thin substances. Although he couldn't see or touch her the communication was all they had.

Eventually Beth was allowed in on the deal, and while her younger sister was home, she conversed with her. The first time it had happened, Jonathan was with Beth, wanting to be there so she wasn't surprised or startled. Although her younger sister was expecting the words to appear out of the dust on the windowsill, she still gasped when Jessica began to write. Jonathan left the two sisters to reconnect, almost crying himself when he heard Beth began to sob out of joy.

Her sister was back, she could talk with her again. The Midnight hadn't stolen the one thing most dear to her after all.

'Hey, Beth. I missed you.' Were Jessica's first words to her sister. Beth stood there, dumbfounded for several moments, staring at the words on the sill. Then Jessica added one more thing,

'Use paper to reply to me. I can see you, but you can't see me. I'm sorry.' Beth had begun to cry, and Jessica, alarmed, scribbled down three question marks. Beth shook her head and whispered,

"Y-you're not dead. You...you aren't gone." In a shaky, sob-ridden voice. She frowned, wondering if her sister was able to hear her.

''No...I'm still here. And you can see me. Not now, but Jonathan can take you to see me. And I can hear you, just, writing it down makes it easier to reply to. But I don't think you can handle just writing things down for now.' Beth froze and a giant grin of delight crossed her pale face, and Jessica felt a smile cross her face as well. She found a fresh patch of dust and said,

'No...I'm still here. And you can see me. Not now, but Jonathan can take you to see me.' Beth froze, a smile of pure delight and joy spreading across her face.

"Really?! Wh...where?" Beth exclaimed, not bothering to write this down. Jessica had run out of room and resorted to the condensation on the cool windows,

'In the blue time. He's going to take you there. Like before...but without any darklings, I promise.' Beth hesitated for a split second, but then, with tears still flowing silently down her cheeks, she whispered,

"Oh, Jessica...please, that would be wonderful. Just...oh, Jess, I can't believe you aren't gone forever!" She had begun to cry again, and Jessica felt tears wetting her own nearly non-existent cheeks as well.

'I love you, Beth.' She wrote, wrapping her arms around her sister's trembling form. Although Beth would be unable to notice her presence, she still felt better this way. Beth whispered back to Jessica,

"I love you too, Jess...should I g-go talk to Jon?" Jessica nodded, forgetting her sister couldn't see her. She wrote 'yes' on the window and then added,

'I'm going to go now, honey. I want to sleep, pass the time quicker. Jonathan will know what to do.' Beth nodded, her gut wrenching as she realized her sister was leaving. Hoping she was still there for one last second, she whispered once more before going out to talk with Jonathan,

"I love you so much Jess. I'm sorry I never got to say it before." Jessica was too grief-stricken to write out a reply. She just added a heart to the window, and then closed her eyes, letting her consciousness fade...

----

Jessica awoke with a start. Whenever she 'slept' before the blue time, that vivid recollection of the events that had happened several months ago haunted her. She missed talking with her sister dearly, being so far away from Bixby. She had been in the blue time for a month now, searching out more midnighters along with Melissa and Jonathan. At midnight, Melissa would track down the thoughts of the midnighters and send thoughts to them, willing them to come their way. They usually camped out in the outskirts of the town, leaving Jess to fend off the minute amount of slithers and darklings that investigated the group while Melissa mindcasted.

Although they had been out looking for a month, it had taken them that long to get to the big city. Only being able to travel an hour a day does that to you.

Currently Jonathan had gone to meet their first midnighter -- a girl by the name of Audrey. Melissa couldn't quite tell her specialty yet, but the girl had felt her mind being touched by the mindcatser's, felt her pulling towards her. Midnight was half over, and if the girl was to get there in time Jon would have to go out and get her.

Several long minutes later, he was back, holding the hand of a young girl -- no older than thirteen, Beth's age -- she looked terrified. Once they landed, she let go of his hand almost instantly and fell to the ground, staring wide-eyed at the troupe. Obviously this one did not enjoy flying.

"Where am I?" She whispered, fearful. Jessica stood and walked over to her, smiling warmly at the girl, and saying,

"Hello, Audrey -- I'm Jessica, this is Melissa, and that's Jonathan," She started and then after a pause, catching the girl's look of surprise, she sat and continued, "And this is the blue time, or, midnight, if you'd prefer it in simpler terms. I can't explain everything now, but...just listen to me -- and please, you'll have to believe this isn't a dream." The girl nodded, her face pale in the blue light of the frozen world. She was dumbfounded, her mind just not wanting to accept the obvious facts.

"You're what we call a midnighter -- like us three, you were born either exactly at, or very close to, midnight." She paused, letting this small bit of information sink in. Although she seemed calm and collected on the outside, her brain was moving at a thousand miles per hour, hoping that she wasn't saying all of this too fast, or not fast enough.

"Melissa here called you -- she's what's called a mindcaster." Jessica paused, seeing the girl's face light up in absolute shock.

"Can...can these mindcasters hear everyone's thoughts, too?" Audrey asked. Jessica was surprised the girl had accepted this fact so fast. She cast a nervous look back at the moon -- but thankfully not too much time had passed. Melissa's eyes shot open where she had been laying down on the ground, and she said with a look of delight on her face while she sat up

"Why, can you, Audrey?" Audry nodded slowly, her eyes flashing violet in the moonlight as she looked up.

"It...it's overwhelming...I can hardly concentrate in school since this weird...blue time thing started. My parents are worried..." She trailed off, sounding frightened at the end. Jessica touched the girl's shoulder and said with a warm smile,

"Melissa can fix that, honey." She paused and looked at Melissa who got up and walked over to her and Audrey, kneeling to the ground and holding out her hand, palm upward.

"Take my hand, Audrey, and focus your mind on me. I'm going to give you a lot of information, but whatever you do, do not let go." Audrey hesitated for a moment but then made up her mind and carefully took Melissa's had, as if it were something fragile.

Jessica sat back and watched as the young girl's face twisted with different emotions -- first fear, then shock, and then a blissful wonder. Jon had flown over then to land beside Jessica, wrapping his arms around her possessively and whispering huskily in her ear, "If only we had more time..." Jessica blushed and leaned against him, reveling the feel of his midnight feather lightness flowing through her as she whispered that she too, wished for maybe two extra hours, or three, or four...

Melissa had finished up with Audrey, who looked amazed at what she had seen. "Excuse me, you two lovebirds, but if Audrey's going to get back home in time, and you get back here before midnight's over, you need to go NOW." Jessica stuck her tongue out at the mindcaster but kissed Jonathan lightly before telling him to go, and hurry back. He got to his feet reluctantly, holding on to Jessica as long as he could before turning to Audrey, who had a confused look on her face.

"Can't you hang out with her all day? Why are you so worried about leaving?" The girl glanced between the two. Jonathan looked sad as se said quietly, "Jess is like the darklings. She isn't evil but...she can't leave the blue world." Audrey's eyes widened as she looked between Jon and Jess, who looked sad as he took Audrey's hand and told her to get ready to go. The young girl looked like she regretted asking that question. Jessica looked at Jon right before he went, lifting her hand in farewell as he pushed off.

"You'll see him again, Jess. Don't worry." Melissa said softly to the flame-bringer.

"I know. But a whole day is just too long." Jessica whispered, curling up on the warm midnight ground. Melissa let herself fall back onto the ground, wincing a bit as her head hit the hard sand. Hanging around with Jess while Jon was gone was a pain, but she knew how she felt -- Rex was miles and miles away from her -- out of her mind's reach. She knew he was out there, but he powers weren't strong enough to feel the entire continent like Maddy could. She sighed.

"Audrey knows everything now. She's convinced. And she promised to keep quiet -- not that anyone would believe her, but still. I felt nine other midnighters in this city and I'm pretty sure there's at least one more mindcaster. And possibly an acrobat. But the others...I'm not sure what they are. I haven't tasted anything like them before..." Melissa trailed off, closing her eyes. Jessica had resorted to deep thought as she waited for Jon to come back and she didn't fully hear what Melissa had said. But Melissa could tell that she was purposely trying not to think about something that had come to her mind. She frowned but left it alone. She could already tell that Jonathan was on his way back, going as fast as he could as he saw the moon coming down. Despite his urgency, the joy of flying overtook it.

Jessica shot up when she heard Jonathan shout, running a few steps outward to embrace and kiss him as soon as he was close enough. They rose up a few feet and then softly came down to the ground, not breaking apart. Melissa made a face and turned away, making a point to shut out their thoughts as best as she could.

No way did she want to hear what was going inside a 17-year-old guy's mind right now.

When they finally broke apart, Jessica looked at her watch, a frown coming to her face.

"One minute..." She sighed, sinking to the ground and letting Jon wrap his arms around her. He looked depressed -- when midnight wasn't around, he lost two things. Not just flying, but Jessica. It was all he could do to make it through the day without going insane.

He pressed his mouth firmly over hers, not wanting the feeling of her being so close to him, her touch, her voice, to go--

Blue time was over.

His arms collapsed in on himself, nothing but air in front of him now. A depressed sigh escaped his lips, but he smiled as he saw words begin to form themselves in the sand.

'I love you' they said. Jon added a heart and an 'I love you too' underneath. He stared at it for several seconds before crawling at a snails pace over to his sleeping bag, letting a depressed sigh between his lips.

"She'll be back, Flyboy. Just another twenty-four hours to go." Melissa sighed as she buried herself underneath the sleeping bag. Sleep would be wonderful now.

Jon nodded sadly in reply, saying suddenly, as if he had just remembered,

"Audrey has a friend. She's an acrobat, too, from the way that she described her dreams. Her name's Vicky, and Audrey's going to try and convince her to come with her tomorrow night."

Melissa nodded, suddenly exhausted.

"You can leave all the explaining to me if you want to go off with Jessica tomorrow. I don't mind, as long as you're back here before midnight." Jon looked at her with wide eyes and a grin that lit up his entire face. It gave Melissa a weird, warm feeling.

"Thanks, Melissa." He said. She could feel his thoughts racing, almost too fast for her to track coherently. But she shut them out after a minute -- she'd need plenty of rest for the trek into the city tomorrow. She had to find the midnighter girls, and she had to help convince the other acrobat to come out there.

Slowly the mind noise dulled in her head as she began to drift off, grateful for the soft blanket of sleep that pulled over her.

-----

Jessica had let her conscious mind wander back to her body, but only for a few hours. She was too restless, her mind too hungry and aching to be up and about, to sleep. She went to watch over Jonathan, even though she couldn't do too much. She gently stroked his hair, her hand nothing more than a breeze in the state she was in. She hummed a little rhythm to herself -- something only she could hear, of course, as she watched the sun come up.

Her mind wandered, thoughts passing around her addled brain as she watched the clouds turn from black, to gray, to purple, pink, yellow, orange, red, and finally white.

It was while she watched the world around her that something struck her.

Rex had gone to the old ones when he had been looking for information about the rip in the blue time about a month ago. Although he hadn't quite gotten everything he needed -- in fact, no one was really sure what had gone on out there -- Jessica was certain that the darklings, the old ones, as the creators of the blue time, would know what she needed.

The only problem was actually getting them to help her.

Jessica mulled over these thoughts while Melissa and Jon woke up. She leaned over and kissed his cheek before getting up to leave.

"Jess, if you're here, write something." Melissa called out softly. The mindcaster found it irritating that she couldn't hear Jess' thoughts during the day.

'I'm here'. Jess wrote in the sand. Melissa nodded and woke Jonathan up fully, tossing little rocks at his head until he groaned, "Stop, stop! I'm up, Jesus Christ." He looked around, eyes squinting adorably against the morning sun as he stretched and yawned. Jessica smiled and went over to him, settling herself in his lap as he sat cross-legged in front of Melissa. Jon looked a slight bit surprised as the words appeared right in front of him, 'What did you need?' Melissa couldn't help but smile at the surprised look on Jon's face as he realized that the only way for her two write those words was if she was in the same spot as him. He looked down as if he expected to see her sitting there, even though it was obvious that she wouldn't be and then looked at Melissa to reply. She sighed and settled herself down to say, "Me and Jonathan are going to town today. We need food, plus I think I can find that other midnighter girl now since I know her mind now." Jessica nodded slowly to herself, scraping over her other words and writing out, 'You want me to stay here?' The slow way she wrote them betrayed her feelings. Jon frowned and waved his hands around the area that she would be in, a look of determined thought on his face.

"Yeah...I'm sorry, Jess, but there isn't much you can do in this time. Just stay here and watch our stuff. If anyone takes anything...well, I don't really know. But I doubt anyone will do a thing." Melissa seemed distracted, but Jess scribbled over her words again and wrote, 'Okay. Come back before midnight though, please.' Jon smiled and wrote back, rather than speaking, 'Wouldn't miss it for the world.' Jessica smiled to herself and then got up, wandering over to their stuff, all packed up and neat.

"Okay, Jon, lets get ready then. The sooner we figure out where the midnighters are, the sooner we can get a freakin' hotel." She seemed happy, Jess thought sarcastically.

'Bye, don't get caught by any cops, alright, Jon?' Jonathan made a face at the words but nodded, grumbling something about him getting all the blame.

"Alright, Flyboy, lets get going." Melissa said, dressed in a pair of black shorts and a t-shirt. He looked surprised.

"What? It's hot out, there's no way I'm wearing velvet."

"Jesus, you are going crazy." He muttered. Jessica laughed, sad that only she could hear the sound.

She waved at their backs as they walked away, her mind already buzzing away as she closed her eyes and stretched out her mind, feeling for the old ones that were left...

----

_Why do you call us, human?_

Jessica jumped. It had been at least fifteen minutes since she called out to the old ones, she hadn't been expecting a reply. And not from the beast that edged in front of her, massive and calm, taking the worm of a strange creature with feathery wings and the face of a cruel-looking raven.

_I...I need to ask you a favor._ She replied...well, thought, tentatively. She was surprised at the wave of...what seemed to be a mocking attitude, that came before the next response.

_Us? Help a little bit of prey like you? You have gone mad, human._

Jessica sighed. She knew this was going to be hard.

_Prey? I'm no prey to you, beast. My hand carries lighting, I know you fear me. That is why you don't bother my friends. Because I'm around._ She felt a hesitation come from the creature, and then satisfaction well inside of her.

_You make a valid point, human. But tell us. Why should we help you, when all you have done for us is slaughter our kind, ruin our one day to feed?_

Jessica barked out laughter, the harsh sound of it even startling her. She crossed her arms, and then said with authority, _Because I prevent your precious darklings from coming out. As long as I live in the midnight hour, you are like my prey. Hunted._ She felt smugness radiating from every pore in her body, knowing that what she said was fact -- any darkling within a hundred thousand miles was terrified to come out and face her. They knew they would die.

The old one took a long time to answer, shifting its position every few seconds, seeming uncomfortable.

_I am not as old as the oldest ones. You will have to speak with them. And I can take you there._ Jessica narrowed her eyes, but stood. The creature did not fear her nearly as much as the other, lesser darklings. She was not sure how the true old ones would address her.

_Okay, beast._ She replied simply, walking up to it. She reached a tentative hand out while the creature stooped, allowing her access to its back. She tentatively reached out to brush the feathers with her fingertips, shivering slightly as she did so but not experiencing any amplified fears, nothing crippling her muscles and mind.

_Trust me, human, the last thing I want to do is harm you with that hand anywhere near me._ It growled in her mind. Jessica gave in and leapt up, surprised at how comfortable she was. Curiosity sparked in her mind as she gently gripped the beast's feathers and she asked, _Do you have a name?_ The old one was silent for a moment and then replied.

_Yes, human. I am Aage._ Jessica nodded, and then was surprised when it added, _What is yours?_ Her shock took a moment to wear off and she replied,

_Jessica. My name is Jessica._ A snort of contempt came from the creature and it muttered something about odd, modern names. Then with one powerful wing beat that nearly there Jessica off, Aage took off. Jessica held on for dear life, surprised at how...human this creature had sounded. Maybe she was not as much of a being of prey now that she was a part of the midnight. Or maybe this one was different. Or maybe they had never been so beast-like to begin with -- just like house cats only show their beastly side when a mouse or bird is in its path. Her thoughts wandered as the giant raven flew and the landscape rushed by underneath them. Her heart began to beat fast as she finally realized what she and gotten herself into, though.

There was no turning back now.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO. YAY.

Jessica had been watching the ground go by as they flew. Finally Aage spoke to her, saying,

_I'm going to land...hold on, it may be rough._ Jessica nodded grimly and tightened her grip in the darkling's feathers, letting out a sharp yell that was cut off quickly by a hiss from the darkling,

_Hush! The old ones know you're here, but you _must_ stay on my back. I...have broken enough of their trust my bringing you here, and letting you lose will only anger them more._ Jessica felt the blood rush from her face and her whole entire body go cold. These were not just the old ones that Rex had encountered. These were very, very old ones. Their shapes were massive, one of them giving off an eerie black steam that flowed along the ground, another with tentacles much like a jellyfish, but with spikes protruding from them every now and then.

The one that terrified her most, though, was the one that looked _human_ it had a sneer permanently on its face, its skin shining eerily, as if lit from within. And this one...it looked like Jon. Her heart began to beat faster, she gripped Aage's feather tighter, and she felt the human-ling's satasfaction at her terror.

_Welcome, human_. It hissed smoothly. She couldn't find the words to reply, so Aage did for her.

_Hello, this human...Jessica, has requested your audience, ancient ones._ There was a hiss of anger from the jellyfish like one, which chilled Jessica to the bone.

_Why? Why have you brought us this...this lowly piece of meat? She does not deserve anything but to be consumed._ Jessica nearly fainted when they began to advance, but Aage let loose a shrill caw.

_Stop! She has reason to meet with you, old ones. You know how much she's scared the young ones, and she even scares _you _with her lightning-hand._ There was a moment of silence, and then the human-like darkling sent a command at Aage.

_Let her down, runt. Now._ It was not a request in the least. Jessica's eyes widened and she stiffened, but as the feather beneath her began to harden and feel sharp, she sighed and took three deep breaths before quietly sliding off of the raven darkling.

_My name is your worst nightmare, my dear._ Hissed the Jonathan-old one. Jesica looked at him as he walked forward, looking down at her with eyes like coals. _And I would like to know why you, my _prey_, think you can come here and come away unharmed._ Jessica clenched her fists, causing them to light up. The darkling's composure wavered for a split second, and that was all that Jessica needed to regain her confidence.

_I came to make ou a deal. My half is up to you - but your half is to get me out of the midnight. I don't belong here, you all know that. And you all know that things have been happening since I've come to be a part of it. You can all feel it, as can I. The midnight is unraveling -- and as soon as it's gone, s will you all be. It's no coincidence that this all happened at the moment I became a part of the midnight, you can't deny that._

Jessica stood, her glare unwavering as she stared purposefully up at the old, old one. A wicked grin played across his human features.

_Then why do we not simply kill you?_ Jessica faltered, but the argument came right to her head as she spat back,

_You must undo what I've caused. SImply killing me won't solve the problem -- it will make it _unsolveable. Her anger caused even the old one to take a step back as her hands crackled with energy. Although they were spirits, and could do no harm to one another, her powers were still frightening. The old one looked back at his comrades, who had stilled, even the one whose smoky tendrils seemed to flow of their own accord.

They knew that Jessica was right, she was the cause of the unbalance in the midnight and she had to be spat back out to fix it. But not without a price.

_Okay, human. We will let you free._ Jessica's delight drowned out his next thoughts, so he paused while she calmed herself.

_But happiness does not come without a price. And the price you will pay to gain freedom is high._

Jessica's happiness was doused as a thought came to her head. Her hands slowly went out and dread settled into the pit of her stomach, as bitter and ugly as bile.

_Ah...I see you know what that price is, girl._ The jonathan-old one's smile grew to swallow nearly all of his features. These being had no concience, and they would get whatever they could out of this.

_How...how much?_ Jessica whispered, her eyes wide and the dreadful feeling working its way out of her stomach now, beginning to spread throughout her whole body.

_Oh, you will be much more than a 'halfling' as you call it. We will let you remain human. But like that Rex of yours, dear, you will not have it so easy._ Jessica's eyes widened as she remembered the way that Rex acted. She didn't know of how he acted aorund Melissa. But she turned her features steely, and then asked,

_How. Much._ The old one laughed cruelly and put his hands on her shoulders, causing her to gasp, and then pain filled her form head to toe. She heard Aage screech and his thoughts filled her brain,

_Stop, Cronos! You will kill her Do not break your word!!_ But Cronos, the darkling who had a hold of her, ignored his pleas. It seemed Aage was too human for them, his opinions did not matter. Jessica cleanched her fists, screaming at the top of her lungs, her throat raw. She had no idea what was going on. Finally the pain stopped. It was so abrupt, she fell to her knees, her forehead touching the ground, she felt the sand pushing an imprint into her forhead.

_Felt?_ Jessica's head shot up and she looked around, seeing the darklings no longer. She leapt to her feet, feeling new energy in her body. She was free! A giggle of hysteria burst forth from her and she spun in a circle, yelling for joy and laughing like a little child.

Í"m free, I'm free, I'm free!" She shouted, tears rolling down her cheeks as she cried for joy.

_Almost, my dear._ Came a slimy voice in her head. Cronos. Jessica stopped dead, a shudder passing through her.

She was far from free -- it was almost worth being trapped in the midnight.

She was one of them now.

_Not quite...as I said, you are still human. But you are my host now, dear. You will be like Rex, but more. You are our little experiment, my dear. Your rice has not been paid in full yet._

Jessica felt dread rise in her stomach. And she finally realized what she had done.

Never, ever, trust a darkling.

Cronos' cruel laughter filled her head and then died away as he chuckled,

_That is right. Because darklings are just that untrustworthy._

Jessica felt tears roll down her cheeks again -- but this time not of happiness. Quite far from it.

But what could she do? She had made her deal. And she would have to carry it out.

_Don't think you've won, Cronos. I am much more powerful than you think._

Her only response was cruel, cold laughter.

_Have fun getting back home, human._ He said, causing Jessica to swear and start towards the city in the distance. If only it was midnight and Jon was here.

_Oh yes. If only. But we don't all get what we want now, do we?_ Laughter followed that and Jessica shut his horrible, mocking voice from her head. At least she could do that much.

By the time that she got back to the campsite, midnight had fallen. Jonathan bounded up to her, whisking her up in his arms and twirling her around and kissing her before he murmured while the floated down,

"Jess, oh, where were you? I thought something had happened..." He sounded terribly worried. Jesica silenced him with another kiss as they made it back to the ground and replied to him once they broke apart,

"Calm down, Jon. I'm not going anywhere. Now without you." Melissa made a gagging noise and called back to them, "Take it somewhere else, I think I'm gonna barf!" Jessica grinned and pulled Jonathan along, him bouncing and carring her and him, spinning, up into the air. She laughed, her mind completely off the darkling that had itself situated in her mind. She felt completely human -- even the steel flashlight in her pocket didn't hurt her.

So, what was so bad?

She pushed the doubt out of her mind and focused on Jon. They landed and she bounced out farther from their campsite.

"So, did you find anything?" She asked him as they went -- she saw that they were angled towards a giant cliff a few miles away.

"We found Audrey and her friend, and they agreed to go find Melissa tonight. She said she felt them when we got to the campsite -- by the way, where were you?" Jessica hesitated, and then said as smoothly as she could,

"I was...looking around. I hadn't realized how late it was getting until midnight hit." She paused and then added, regarding the two girls, "So one's an acrobat too, huh? I wonder if we'll find any Seers or Polymath's around..." She didn't mention a fire-bringer -- because, frankly, she wasn't too thrilled about being one. It had gotten her sucked into the midnight and now turned into half a darkling.

No one else should have to go through what she did. She shook her head a bit to rid the thoughts from her mind, hoping Melissa was too preoccupied to notice them and turned to listen to Jon's reply.

"She said she didn't recognize the other seven midnighters out there, but it just might be because of the distance. When we went into town she said she swore she'd felt more than one seer out there. I think she's eager to meet them, not too sure why though." Jessica nodded, her thoughts roiling. Once they made it to the top of the cliff -- which turned out to have a hill at one end that they went to sit on -- they settled down. Jessica sat in between Jon's legs and he leaned back, staring up at the sky.

"I wonder if there's any other midnight talents we haven't figured out yet..." Jessica said thoughtfully. It would be great for there to be other talents -- finding them all would be so much fun. She wondered if there were people who could see the future, or someone like her or Jon with a physical. Maybe someone who gained strength during the blue time, or maybe they could have elemental powers...

"What're you thinking, Jess?" Jon asked her, resting his chin on the top of her head. She smiled and replied,

"What those people that Melissa can't identify might have as a talent. It would be awesome if there were elemental ones, or if someone could see the future..." Jon grinned and looked out at the sinking moon, thinking,

"Or maybe if one of them can really fly. Man, that would be even more fun than just jumping around..." Jessica laughed and said while taking his hand,

"I'm afraid you'd never want to come down if you could fly." He smiled more softly at her when she said that, twining his fingers with hers,

"I'd come back down for you."Jessica blushed and leaned back on him, just feeling happy for the first time in over a month.

But she frowned, her hand tightening around Jonathan's. Her parents and Beth...she would get to see them, but...she had to stay with Jon and Melissa.

"What's wrong?" He asked her moving to put his arms around her.

"We should get back to Mellissa now. The moon's going down." She replied. That wasn't the reason she had tensed up, it was the thought of not being able to see her parents even though she _could_ bothered her. Jon looked up and frowned as well, nodding as he stood, pulling Jessica up into his arms and jumping off the cliff. She gasped in surprise as he held her against his chest. She hadn't really been expecting that. He gently let her go as they came down from their first jump, and Jesica was grinning like a child when they jumped again, and Jon laughed at the look on her face.

By the time they got back to the campsite, the two were laughing uncontrolably and tumbled to Melissa's feet, still stuck in a fit of giggling.

"Oh, shut up with you? You're making my head hurt." Jessica held up her hand as she tried to stop her laughter, only managing to get herself the hiccups and continue to giggle. Melissa sighed and then said, hoping it would shut them both up,

"Midnight ends in a few minutes, numbwads." Both of them froze, shock stopping Jessica's hiccups and Jon just...feeling horrible. This hour a day was not enough. Not at all.

They both sat up and Jessica put her arms around him, holding him tight as she whispered,

"I have something to show you, Jon. I want you to let go of me and close your eyes. And when midnight's over...look." She hoped that it would work, a desperate, clinging hope. Then she let go of him and stood, taking a few steps back. Melissa was looking at her, her eyes narrowed,

"Jessica...what...?" But midnight was ending. Jessica looked at her watch, and slowly counted down to herself,

"Five...four...three...two..."

Jon opened his eyes.

And stared.

Melissa was staring as well, her mind blank for once, nothing coming to it as an explinaiton for this. And Jessica knew. She _knew_ this was going to happen, or else she wouldn't have said that to Jon...and she was trying desperatley to not think about something. Then she heard the voice.

_Enjoy it while you can, Jessica Day._ Jessica had a look of strain on her face as she fought to bury the thought.

"Jessica! What have you done?!" Melissa barked, sensing the mind of a darkling brush against her own. This one was many, many times more powerful than the one in Rex. This one could _speak_. Rex's couldn't speak. Why was Jessica's _speaking_?!

Jessica cast fearful eyes at the mindcaster and Jon ran over to her, putting his arms around her and putting his face ot her head, murmuring to her with tears leaking out the corners of his eyes. Melissa looked distressed, but knew that this could wait. Jon was too wrapped up in his surprise, joy, confusion, too many emotions at once, for Melissa to focus. Jessica had put her arms around him as well, not wanting to let go.

"Jon, oh, Jonathan...I--" Her words were silenced by his mouth over hers, taking in every second he could of her finally being with him. She gave in to his touch and they both sank to the ground. Melissa tried her best to keep her mind positioned on the flow of thoughts from those two, not wuite enjoying the lustful thoughts going through the couple's heads.

She walked farther from the two, buried in their own world, and thought about the two girls she'd talked to eariler. They said they'd seen others, and tomorrow midnight they'd have to go into town and finally rent a place. She'd give the two lovers a separate room, thank you very much.

"Jonathan..." Jessica breathed from behind Melissa. Jon's thoughts were getting to the point that Melissa wanted to slap him. But that wouldn't do her too good. When she turned ot look at her, she jumped. They were on the _ground_ now, jesus christ.  
"Okay, you two, break it up. If either of you gets AIDS we're fucked." Jessica giggled but didn't move from where she was, laying on top of Jonathan. Jon just rolled his eyes at her and put his arms loosely around Jess, saying,

"I wouldn't talk, Mel. None of us know what you and Rexy were up to." Jon grinned at the indignant look on Melissa's face, and the way it flushed.

"Ah-hah! I win." Jessica pounded on his chest in an attempt to make him shut up.

"Jon, stop pestering her. We need to get some sleep -- I'm exhausted." Melissa was iron about finding out what Jessica had done, though.

"Jess. You need to tell me what you did. Right now -- because if I don't know, and anything happens..." She shuddered, an image of Rex losing control going through her mind -- if he was that bad with a much less powerful darkling inside of him, what would Jessica be like?

"Well I..." She started, rolling off of Jon and sitting up. "I...thought that maybe the darklings knew how to get me out of the blue time," Melissa groaned. Mistake number one right there.

"And so, I called out to them, but I didn't really expect an answer." She paused and looked at Melissa who had her head tilted down as she thought,

"But you got a response anyway," she murmured. Jessica nodded, and then the image of her getting on the Raven old one and flying across the desert flashed through her mind. Melissa looked up sharply, her eyes wide and shock on her face,

"You _rode on its back_?" Jonathan looked up, alarm clear on his features.

"Jessica!" He cried out, causing her to whip around and face him, her voice steely,

"What else was I supposed to do? They can't harm me during the day. I'm free from them -- I could say whatever I wanted and they couldn't do a thing! The raven -- Aage -- took me to more old ones. These ones...they...their power scared me, Melissa. And they weren't even within ten meters of me. But they could bring me back from the blue time. And...I agreed to their terms." Jessica took a deep breath after that, reaching out for Jon's hand. He took it and pulled her into his lap, huging her close to him.

"Jessica. Do you know what the terms you blindly agreed to have done? Do you have any idea at all?" Melissa's voice rose a it and Jess flinched. Jon murmured in her ear and she nodded.

"All I know is what Cronos has told me. He...he's the darkling in my head." Melissa threw her hands up and groaned aloud, "Wonderful! Perfect! Not we have _two_ of you crazy halflings running around! Is this turning into a trend or something?" Melissa hardly ever lost her cool -- Jess and Jon were set into a shocked silence until Jessica spoke up once more.

"But...Melissa. I'm not afraid of thirteen letter words. Steel doesn't hurt me. There must be something different about me, right?" Melissa looked over at the flame-bringer, her black hair falling in front of her eyes.

"I don't know, Jessica. I really don't know. I can't probe your mind -- when Maddy tried to do that to Rex...oh, I can't explain. But no. You'll have to figure it out on your own," A pause while she got into her sleeping bag, "For now, lets sleep, I'm exhausted. 'Night." Jessica shivered, and Jonathan pulled her closer, murmuring, "I'll still love you even if you turn into an ugly beast." Jessica smiled and replied, "I love you too Jon."

With that notion, Jess and Jon went to bed, sharing a sleeping bag considering there was only two. Neither had an objection to that.

Jonathan put his arms around her, murmuring a sleepy "'Night." Before falling asleep. And within moment Jessica was asleep feeling safe and warm. But not long after that, the nightmares began.

"No! N-no, don't!" Jessica's scream pierced the cool night air. Jon woke with a start, confused at first, but when he moviced Jessica's trembling, fear-stricken form, he held her tighter, murmuring to her.

"Shh, it's okay, Jess, it was just a dream, baby, hush." She put her head to his chest and bawled her eyes out, Melissa groaning and rolling her eyes. She hadn't caught what the dream was about, but what could it have been? Nothing too bad, because she was calming down. And no images flashed through her mind at all -- she would have remembered something this bad. Right? The uncertanty Melissa felt scared her; she had never felt this way before. Her answers were nearly always certain, and if she couldn't find an answer, she let Rex or Dess figure it out.

A shudder passed through her as a dreadful feeling build in her stomach.

What if the darklings had wanted to split them up? Rex had Dess, and they had Jessica...but now that Jess was taken over by an old one...no. That couldn't be it. Melissa shook her head violently to clear the thoughts from her head.

"J-jon, oh, no...I d-don't want to g-go back to s-sleep. P-please d-don't make m-me." Jessica stuttered fearfully through her tears. Jon nodded, kissing the top of her head and continuing to talk to her,  
"No, no, it's okay, Jess, you can stay up, I won't make you go to sleep, I'll be here, I promise." Jessica had her arms against his chest in front of her and she balled up his shirt in her fists and buried her face in his chest again, the tears finally going away. He held on to her, keeping silent, until she looked up at him again.

"Jess, babe, what happened in your dream?" Jon whispered, fear for her in his eyes. If what Melissa and her had been talking about last night was true...

"I-I dont even know, Jon. I j-just...remember waking up comepletely t-terrified of something." She paused and reached for his hand, holding on to it tightly as if he was floating away.

"Don't leave me." She whispered. This took Jon by surprise.

"I wouldn't ever, Jess. Never." She smiled slightly through her tears and squeezed his hand, the fear suddenly melting.

"I love you." She murmured, her eyes drooping. Jon, although confused, replied, "Love you too, honey," His thumb moved back and forth on the back of her hand as he finally felt her relax.

"Mel, does this have to do with the darkling?" Jonathan suddenly asked.

"I have a feeling that that's true...but...but I'm not one hundred percent sure." Jon nodded, contuing to rub Jessica's hand and whisper sweet words into Jessica's ear while he fell asleep himself.

If he got the chance, he was going to make this darkling wish it had never come _near_ his girl.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Wow! Sorry for the short chapter this week, guys. For some reason I added chapter four to this, and thought it was a part of chapter three. Well then, I'm a lot more ahead of schedule than I thought! Next weeks' chapter should be normal-length, don't worry! ;P Read and enjoy 3**

CHAPTER THREE. HODAMN.

Jessica woke up the next morning without the fear she'd felt the night before. She was curled up against Jonathan's body, feeling warm and safe again. She stretched out her legs and gently kissed Jonathan's cheek as she woke herself up. Melissa was awake only a few moments after she was and Jessica heard her m

moving around, getting her stuff together. Looks like they were going into town today. Jon woke up a bit later, his eyes half closed, sleepy and voice slurred with grogginess as he mumbled,

"Wha time issit?" Jessica grinned at the funny way his words sounded and replied, "Time to get up, sleepyhead." She started to get up and out of their sleeping bag, surprised at the cold air that hit her when she was fully out of the bag. Why was it cold?

"'Cause we're up north, dippy. Not that far, but far enough." Melissa growled from several feet away. Apparently the mindcaster wasn't a morning person. Jess shrugged, though. She didn't mind the cold, she'd lived in Chicago for the first fifteen years of her life, so you had to get used to it or you'd be screwed.

Jon sprawled himself out in the sleeping bag after she'd gone, tossing an arm over his eyes and moaning about it being too early.

_Well, now I know what happens to all that energy at the end of the day_. She thought with a smile. Melissa turned to Jessica with a look of annoyance and barked, "Get that lazy ass up, alright? We need to get into town." Jessica held back laughter as she nodded.

"Joooooooonathaaaan!" Jessica said in a sing-songy voice, peeling back the sleeping bag. Jon shot upright with a yell of shock as the cold reached him, making Jessica and even Melissa laugh.

"Okay, okay, I'm up, let me get my damn sweatshirt..." He looked around for his pullover and once he found it, put it on, still trembling a bit in the cold. Jessica found this incredibly funny, and kept giggling at the sight of her boyfriend, shivering and looking pretty freakin' pathetic.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," He grumbled irritably, wrapping his arms around himself and rubbing them. "It's not like I can help it." He added on, muttering.

"Okay, snowman, lets get our stuff together." He snorted at the nickname but helped Jessica roll up the sleeping bag and tie them to her backpack (which was empty).

"I don't see why we're keeping these if we're just gonna be staying in a hotel..." grumbled Jonathan, still cranky. Melissa just rolled her eyes and finished up her packing.

"Okay, once Mr. Slowpoke is done, we can go." She said. Jon stuck his tongue out at her, earning himself a suppressed giggle from Jessica.

Finally they were all ready go, and they set off, walking the mile or so into town. Jon was antsy, and it was obvious he would rather be flying. But Jessica succeeded in calming him down enough so he wasn't complaining every five seconds.

It took them about fifteen minutes to hit the first houses on the outside of the city, and by that time Jon had moved to complaining about how hungry he was and how he needed food. Melissa was about to slap him, but Jessica beat her to it...sort of.

"Oh, Jesus, Jon, shut up will you? You sound like my sister...we'll get food soon, okay?" Jon tried to look offended, but he ended up giggling like he was insane instead. Jessica shot a look at Melissa and thought, _Who slipped him the drugs? _With a grin on her face. Melissa laughed and shrugged back, both of the girls earning an odd look from Jon.

Finally they came to a Diner and Jon shot right inside, leaving the girls behind. They sighed and went in after him, barely managing to catch the waitress in time to grab two menus.

"So, Jon, is food going to be your next girlfriend?" Melissa asked with a grin. Jessica shot a glare at her, but then laughed, knowing she'd only been joking. Jon was too busy frothing at the mouth over the food options in front of him to notice, or probably even hear what Melissa had said.

Once they had gotten their food, eaten and paid (Jon getting twice as much as the girls, yet somehow finishing it faster than them), the three midnighters spilled out of the diner and onto the busy streets of midday Tulsa. Everything was fine at first. They walked along, Melissa mindcasting for midnighters, Jon holding Jessica's hand and absently swinging it, Jessica smiling and looking around, happy to be back in a large city again. She'd missed the skyscrapers, ugly concrete and asphalt, bare minimum of nature, the deafening noise and the smelly smells of the city.

As weird as it was, she adored everything about the city.

Just as they passed a deli, Jessica's heart pounded in her chest, a strange craving crawling its way up her spine to plant in her brain, nagging. She clenched her hand around Jon's, sweating slightly. What was this? She walked slower, her head craning to keep the deli in sight.

"M-melissa?" She squeaked, fear in her voice. The mindcaster looked at the strange look on Jessica's face and frowned.

"Jess, I can't read your mind. What's wrong?" She was feeling panicky. How could she not read Jessica's thoughts? That had never, ever happened before.

"I...when we passed that deli...I...I had this really, really weird craving for meat." Melissa sighed and shrugged. "Oh, come on, Jess, that's not that big a deal. But what are you thinking? I can't read your though--" She cut herself off as she received something from the flame-bringer at last. It sent a shiver down her spine,

_Meat, meat, fresh meat, hunting time again. Hunt, hunt, helpless prey, big city, big fun!_

Jon looked at the stricken expression on Melissa's face, then at the one of terror on Jessica's, impatience building in him as he demanded, "What? What's wrong? Tell me, dammit!" Melissa walked up to him, putting her bare hand on his and replying what she had just heard in Jessica's head. Jonathan froze, his eyes wide and he turned to Jessica, her terror melting into disbelief and dread.

That craving had been her own, not Cronos'. She looked at her hands, noticing that she was trembling.

_What am I?_ She thought with dread at the answer she might receie.

_You are one of us, halfling._

Jessica's legs stopped supporting her and Jonathan caught her, holding her up.

"Babe, what's wrong? What happened?" Jessica did all she could to not sob into his shoulder. All she could do was stare at him and repeat with her face screwed up in anguish,  
"Oh, Jon, I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry..."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: OH noes! I'm late! Sorry, I went to bed at like, what? 9:30 last night? And I didn't even do my homework :P But, here's the chapter now :3 Read and enjoy. You get to see Jon act like an idiot :D

CHAPTER FOUR. SHHHHHHEIIIT.

Finally they found a hotel. The waves of relief coming form Jonathan surprised Melissa, but when she saw the way Jessica was mangling his hand and arm she understood.

Jess had been a blubbering nutcase once they were out of the public. Whatever had spoke to her had scared her witless, but she just wouldn't let Melissa touch her. It was as if she was trying to save her from seeing a horrible sight. Jon had her cradled in his lap, soothing her the best he could while Melissa went through their stash of stuff to see what they would need while they stayed in the city.

"Jess, oh, please let Melissa see what happened. She's seen worse, she hears their thoughts...Jess..." Jon's pleas came to Melissa's ears. She sighed and shook her head. Jessica wasn't this weak; she took her entrapment in the midnight without a tear. Something else was wrong. Very wrong.

But if the girl wouldn't let her near, and Melissa wasn't going to force anything from her while she was in this state.

Jon spoke without looking up at Melissa, "She needs to sleep, Melissa...but she's too terrified to. Can you help her?" Jessica continued to sob into his chest, her arms curled around herself and legs tucked up, spilling over Jon's crossed legs at the knees. She looked like an overgrown baby.

"I'll see what I can do, Jon." Melissa replied, sending calming, sleepy vibes towards Jessica. She hated doing this; it made her feel like Maddy, a manipulative bitch of a mindcaster. What had to be done, had to be done, though.

Slowly Jessica's sobs shortened, and then grew farther apart, finally dying off all together. She sniffled once and mumbled sleepily, "Melissa, that's no...no fair..." Trailing off as she settled her head against Jon's chest and drifted off. he moved around a bit to be more comfortable, leaning back against some pillows on the headboard. He closed his eyes as well, muttering something about damn darklings. Melissa sighed.

"Okay, I guess we should catch up on some sleep, even though it's the _middle of the day_. I'll go out and look for the midnighters. But don't expect this to happen tomorrow, no way." She muttered the last bit as she headed for the door, ignoring Jon's call of 'thank you!' as she slammed the door behind her.

Once she was out in the streets Melissa felt the onslaught of voices hit her head. She flinched once and then sifted through them, using the age old technique Maddy had taught her to find the voices she wanted, or just tune them all out at once.

_Like tuning an AM radio,_ She thought with a small smile.

Suddenly a thought struck her, loud and clear.

_Hey Melissa! It's Audrey._ Melissa's smile slipped into a grin; she felt strangely honored that the young girl had contacted her.

_Hello, Audrey. How are you? _Melissa replied cheerfully.

_I'm great! I can concentrate in school again, it's great; my parents aren't mad anymore either. Thank you so much. _The girl responded. Melissa felt a warm glow inside of her. Wow, second time in three days. Something must be wrong with her anti-cheeriness factory.

_You're welcome Audrey...now, have you found anything out about the other midnighters yet?_ Melissa was eager to visit some of them. She had done her best to look more...normal. She knew that parents would be reluctant to let their children near someone who looked as gothy as she usually did.

She'd been changing her look a lot lately; she hoped it wasn't permanent.

_Yeah, actually...five other kids at my school are midnighters. My high school's big so that might be why there's so many._

Melissa was surprised. Seven in one school? The school must have been huge.

_Alright, thanks Audrey! _She replied to the girl.

All she got in response was an impression of joy. Wow. She, Melissa, had made someone besides Loverboy happy. It was nice.

She stumbled and someone swore at her, then there was a loud beep and she yanked her head around, gasping slightly as she realized she hadn't been paying attention as she crossed the street.

And there came a car -- and a rather large one at that -- the driver giving off waves of terror and pity as they slammed on the brakes, trying to stop. Melissa had frozen like a deer in the headlights of a car. She essentially _was_ a deer in the headlights now.

And soon so be a dead one.

She threw her arms over her face, her muscles tensing automatically and fear radiating from every pore in her body.

The thought she thought would be her last was something along the lines of,

_I love you, Rex._

But the thought wasn't followed by a heavy, painful, feeling in her stomach, no cracking ribs, no nothing.

Just plain, glorious, _silence._

Melissa slowly lowered her arms, eyes wide and heart pounding with adrenaline.

"Oh...oh no." She whispered quietly, eyes going even wider as she took everything in.

Had the blue time come again? Was there a rip in Tulsa, too?

"Hey! You're a 'nighter too?" A voice called. It was male. Melissa turned, startled, as she picked out a tall, fair haired boy. He looked to be about eighteen, maybe even twenty. A college student, probably.

"A...a midnighter? Y-yeah. I...I am." Melissa managed to choke out. She looked back at the car, jumping slightly at the ghostly effect the terrified stiff sported in the blue time and backing away. Even braking the car was probably going at least twenty. That would not feel good at all.

"Hey! And I thought I was alone...I'm James, who're you?" Melissa didn't care about introductions; she just wanted to find out what the hell had caused the blue time.

"I'm Melissa, but I don't live around here...did you do this?" The boy beamed and nodded, looking quite proud of himself.

"Yeah! It's weird, but I can stop time during the day, like at midnight. But it's hard. Well, was." Melissa was intrigued by this. A new talent? Maybe that was why she couldn't tell what the other midnighters had been. But for some reason she didn't think there could be other talents.

"So...you can stop time whenever you want?" She asked, curious. By now she was near him and her heart had slowed nor was she trembling any longer.

"Not quite. I have to wait a while before I can tamper with it again, but that's usually not more than an hour or so. It's great though, I can control how long I want to screw with time for, and when it starts to make me feel dizzy I just let it go." Melissa was astounded. This was an amazing discovery! It would make life so much easier, if only he wasn't in school...

"How old are you?" She asked, flinching a bit at how rude she'd sounded.

"Me? I'm twenty five, miss. Just a bum livin' off my parent's money. Been trying to find a job, but I haven't had much luck." Melissa beamed. Perfect -- her age guess had been off, but still, this guy would be perfect.

"Well...were you on your way to anywhere important? Because I think there's a few things I want to tell you." He frowned for a second but shook his head after a moment of thought.

"Nope, not going anywhere, miss. What do we need to talk about, though?" Melissa blinked, and then replied, "Well...lets go find somewhere we can talk, first. It'll be easier to explain then." He shrugged and agreed, replying, "Well there's this place a block or so down, we can walk there." Melissa nodded.

"That would be perfect." He smiled and then gently pulled her to his side.

"Don't wanna be in the way of anyone when time starts up again, miss." His accent sounded very Texan. Melissa felt herself blushing when he didn't move his hand from hers, so she did so herself, mentally scolding her behavior. She belonged to _Rex_, not some random off the streets. time jumped back to life, the onslaught of mind noise entering her brain for a moment as she sorted it out.

"Okay, lets go, James." She said, looking up at him. He smiled brightly and nodded.

He reminded her so much of a little kid.

--

"So what you're saying is...you and your two buddies are here in Tulsa, looking for midnighters, because you need to teach them about the midnight, and these things called darklings that are in it?" James said, his eyes on Melissa, attention rapt to her. She nodded, stirring her tea slowly with a spoon.

"That's pretty much it. There's a few other more...complicated details, but you don't need to know those. Mostly just boring stuff about our histories." She replied, looking up at him while she continued to stir. He shrugged and continued to eat the sandwich he's bought.

"I'm not much of a history guy, ancient or otherwise," He laughed. "But I am interested in meeting these other two. Can I?" Melissa frowned, thinking. There wasn't any harm; he was one of them. "Sure. But...lets finish up here first." James nodded, agreeing.

Once they finished, Melissa and James left the cafe, him giving off vibes of contentment. Apparently finding other midnighters had confirmed that he was not actually insane. Melissa quietly opened the hotel door, peering into the room to see if the two were still asleep.

Surprise surprise, they were.

She smiled quietly to herself as she quietly tip toes over to the bed, James following her, feeling a little awkward.

"Boo!" She yelled at Jonathan, who jolted awake, causing Jessica to fall out of his arms and wake up as well. Both had let out short yells when they were woken up, and James found himself laughing at the frightened looks on their faces. Jessica was paler than usual, and Jon looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Jesus _Christ_ Melissa, don't _do_ that!" Jessica gasped, her hands trembling a bit. Jon didn't even bother speaking as he got to his feet, helping Jessica up afterward.

Melissa was grinning like she was a little kid again, barely able to hold back her laughter as she said, "Well you were asleep; I had to wake you up!" James walked up beside her with his hands in his pockets, still chuckling lightly. Jon put an arm possessively around Jessica and asked with suspicious eyes, "Mel? Who's this?" She looked at James and smiled.

"This is James. He's a time-stopper." Jessica tilted her head to the side, confused. More talents? Had her and Jon been right?

"Time stopper...? Wait, but, that means..." James nodded, and with a snap of his fingers, the blue time washed over everything. Jessica gasped at the suddenness of it, Jon grinning as he pushed off slightly from the ground, a hand rising to the ceiling and pushing himself back down as James snapped his fingers a second time. "I can only do it for a few minutes, though. I'm building myself up to a half hour at a time. I'm pretty sure it can only go over a small area." Jon looked ecstatic at the prospect of getting more blue time during the day. Even a few minutes was okay.

"So...how did you find him?" Jess asked as she stared curiously at the older man's face.

Melissa took a deep breath, about to explain, but James brushed her arm with his hand to convey that he wanted to tell, saying instead, "It's nothing important. She just happened to be in my time-stop a while ago. She's told me all about you guys and the midnighters..." He paused to hold his hand out in an awaiting handshake, "You must be Jonathan, nice to meet you, man." Jon put his hand out, suspicion pouring from the glare he sent at the newcomer and stiffly shook his hand. James then held his hand out to Jessica, who reached her own out to shake.

"And that means you're Jessica." He said with a smile, bringing her hand to his lips. She blushed and Jon tightened his arm around her shoulders. This guy had just invaded his territory. Jessica was _his_ and there was no way this...this ladies man was going to do anything like that again. Grrr.

Melissa laughed into her hand, attempting to make it sound like a cough, though the glare she got from Jonathan confirmed that he caught the laughter.

"A-anyways...James wanted to meet you guys, so...here he is. But I'm assuming you have somewhere to stay...?" She turned to James, who was busy smiling at Jessica. He turned his head and nodded.

"I've got a place pretty close to here actually..." He trailed off, not catching the hint that it was time to go. Jessica decided to pipe up and say, "Well, it was really nice meeting you but I'm sure you've got a lot to do." James took the hint then, grinning and nodding.

"Yeah, I probably should head back to my place. Having a party later..." He paused. "Say, would you guys like to come? I'm sure you can take a break form your work -- you've got plenty of time to look for the rest of the midnighters in the city, I'm sure." Jessica grinned, the thought of a party brightening her up. She hadn't been to anything fun in -- well, a long time.

"That...sounds really fun, actually. What do you guys think?" Melissa seemed interested; maybe there would be more midnighters there. She nodded and said that she thought it was an okay idea. Jon stiffly agreed to go since Jessica wanted to.

"What time is it at?" Melissa asked as she sat down on her bed.

"Starts at 4, goes until whenever everyone's either passed out or gone." James replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He paused, frowning and sticking out his lower lip a bit as something clicked in his mind.

"How old are you guys anyway?" Jessica bit her lip and Jon sighed. Maybe if they were too young they could avoid the party--

"We're all nineteen, but alcohol's no problem; we're not strangers to it." Jon's eyes went wide when Melissa said that lie. She looked so...innocent when she said that. It was a good thing James hadn't been looking over at him and Jessica or else he'd have seen through Melissa's lie.

"Okay, if you guys say so. See you at four!" He's looked directly at Jessica when he said that and Jonathan fought back the urge to say anything. He settled with glaring daggers at the opposing male.

With one last wave at the group James went through the door. Everyone was silent until it slammed shut, and Jon said with a hard edge to his voice, "Melissa. Why did you accept that asshat's offer?" Melissa grinned at him.

"To piss you off." She started, earning a pillow to the face. "Not really, but, why not? This guy seems like the kinda kid that would be pretty popular which means there's gonna be more people, which--"

"Which means there could be more midnighters, yeah, yeah, but I do _not_ like the way that guy was looking at Jess." Jon cut her off. His voice was bitter with jealousy.

"Awww, Jon, you were _jealous_!" Jess chimed in, giving him a peck on the cheek. He turned a little red and looked away, muttering about stupid players. Melissa laughed, earning her a surprised look from both of the other midnighters. She had been acting so out of character lately, it was starting to alarm Jess and Jon. She rolled her eyes and ordered them while getting up, "Oh come on, am I not allowed to be happy or something? Lets get ready Jess. You need new clothes." At least there was _one_ person who agreed with her, Jess was thinking. Jon rolled his eyes.

"I'll go in what I've got, you two have fun." He muttered. Jess kissed him on the lips quick, at the same time stealing his wallet from his pocket as she did so.

"'Bye, Jon, love you!" He smiled as she said that, lifting his hand in farewell. And then she waved back, with his wallet in her hand. He stood up and stared openmouthed as the two girls left and stared dumbly at the door after it had closed.

"God dammit, I need another guy around here." He muttered, slumping back on to his bed. Laying back, he flipped on the TV.

This was going to be a long four hours.

--

"Jooooonathaaaan!" Jessica sang as her and Melissa arrived back with their arms laden with clothes and looking positively jubilant. Jon had dozed off in front of the TV, some cop show going on the set. Jessica put her stuff down and sidled up beside him, running a hand through his hair and gently kissing his forehead.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead." She said to him while Melissa reviewed their picks. Both girls had been thanking god for credit cards while they were out shopping, that was for sure. Jon slowly woke up, wiping his face free of drool and rubbing his eyes to wake up.

When he finally noticed how much they had bought, his mouth dropped open and he asked, cautious, "How...how much did you guys spend?" Jessica grinned sheepishly and Melissa diverted her eyes, rocking back on her heels.

"Jessica..." Jon growled as he sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "How much," He started, getting up and walking up to her, forcing her to back up into the wall behind her, "did you spend?" She blushed as he put his hands on either side of her head and leaned in.

"Jon! You're teasing me." She whined as he brushed his lips against hers. Melissa snorted. "No fair, you can't _seduce_ her into telling you how much it is." Jon grinned. "Watch me." He reliped, letting one hand tril down Jessica's side as he whispered into her ear, "How much did it cost, honey?" Jessica bit her lip, trembling a bit at his touch. She gave in when his hand reached her stomach, going under her shit a little. She fought back the urge to just let him continue and murmured quietly, "U-uh, like, t-two hundred dollars?" Jon laughed darkly to himself, thinking so only Melissa would hear, _Told you so._ She scowled at him as he put his mouth over Jessica's and turned to their new clothes, shoes, pretty much everything.

Jon let Jessica move freely, taking her hand and pulling her with him to the pile of clothes, mildly curious as to what the _hell_ they bought that had cost so much money.

He stared silently at the bags as Jess let go of his hand and pulled out her dress, held it up to herself and turned left and right.

"So? What do you think?" Jon was eyeing the dress, a grin spreading across his face as he said, referring to the zipper going down the back. "So...you'll need help getting that on?" Jessica gave him a sharp look and said with exasperation in her voice, "Yes, but _Melissa_ will help me, Jon. Not you." He pretended to look sad but failed rather epicly due to the huge grin on his face.

"Now. I'm off to take my shower, I'll be done as fast as I can, Melissa." The other girl nodded as she sorted out her clothes, standing in front of one of the mirrors as she spun back and forth. Jessica had convinced her to buy a dark blue silk halter dress that stopped mid-thigh. She had to admit it made her feel nice, and she wasn't even wearing the thing yet. Jon had flopped back onto his and Jessica's bed, lounging while Melissa fussed with her hair and new clothes. She was acting uncharacteristically girly in a nearly sickening way.

After about twenty minutes Jon got up and went over to the bathroom, knocking and announcing he was going to the bathroom. Jessica called to him to go on in and he did so.

When he was done, though, he opened and closed the door without going out and stayed in the second part of the bath where he couldn't be seen. He spent some time with his hair, combing the knots out and spiking it up in the front. When the water finally stopped he smiled to himself and turned away from the mirror. Jessica stopped out of the shower with her towel around her, looking down as she dried her feet on the bath mat. When she looked up and saw Jon standing there she froze. He grinned and walked towards her, opening his mouth to say something, but she didn't let him.

"Jonathan you _creep_!" She screeched, slapping him across his face hard enough for a deep red hand print to show up on his tanned skin. He flinched backwards, surprise on his face. He honestly had not been expecting that.

"Get _out_! Jesus Christ, Jon!" She yelled angrily at him, her skin flushing in her rage. He backed up into the door, funmling with the handle and fleeing out into the other room. Melissa was looking over in surprise at the commotion. She started to laugh when Jon came stumbling backwards out of the bathroom, falling on his ass, and getting a hairbrush to the head.

"Jonathan, you are an idiot." Melissa confirmed as she put her dress down and went to help him up. He put a hand to his face where he'd been slapped and muttered, "Damn, she can slap _hard_." Melissa lost it then and collapsed onto her bed laughing. This almost made the trip completely worth it.

Roughly two hours later the girls were dressed and ready to go, and Jon had grudgingly put on a new shirt and pair of jeans at Melissa's request; Jessica was refusing to speak with him after the bathroom ordeal. The red mark on his face had gone down and was just barely visible now. It was a good thing, since they were leaving now. Jessica had left to get a taxi while Melissa ordered Jon out the door. He hadn't seen Jessica's dress on her quite yet, and hoped she'd at least let him have that comfort after their fight. One of their first ones, he realized.

Jessica was waiting for them with a taxi beside her, the taxi man looking her over, and then Melissa and grinning wolfishly as he opened his mouth to say something. Melissa narrowed her eyes at him and growled viciously, "Say it and you're fuckin' dead, you pathetic perv." His mouth snapped closed with wide eyes as the girls slid into the car and Jon paid, laughing mentally.

It was great to have a mind-reader with them.

The taxi driver stopped in front of the address Jessica had handed him, his eyes a little wide when he saw the house they were headed for.

"You sure ya got the right place?" He grumbled. The house was huge; pretty much a mansion, and these three were young. The dresses on the girls looked nice but the taximan had seen the redhead's wallet, which was empty except for a credit card a some probably already used gift cards. Jessica gave him a creepy, demeaning smile as she snapped back, "Yes, _sir_. Thank you _so_ much for your time." She then opened the door and climbed out, stretching and waiting for the other two. Jon finally got a good look at her dress; it was a deep green one, making her eyes jump out. It had a deep V neck, showing quite a bit of cleavage - and the fact she wasn't wearing anything underneath. He hid a grin behind his hand, knowing he'd get hell for that one. Melissa was already glaring at him. Jessica smiled, which warmed Jon's heart even if it wasn't quite directed at him and then said cheerfully, "Come on, guys. Les get going! I haven't been to a good party in forever..." She trailed off as she hooked her arm through Melissa's and took off for the front door of the huge house.

"I...I think I might actually have some fun with this." Melissa said in wonder as they stepped inside. Jessica was immediately greeted by James, who looked quite handsome in his khaki shorts and unbuttoned polo. From what Jess could see, he was a rather built guy. He took her hand, grinning in delight that they'd come, and lifted it to his lips for the second time that day. Jon stiffened and shoved his hands deep in his pockets as he clenched his fists. Melissa sighed and rolled her eyes muttering angrily to him, "Stop that, you jealous prick. She isn't going to pick him over you; I would know." Jon sighed but didn't relax, nor was he convinced.

"Welcome, all three of you. I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the house..." He trailed off, his hand still holding on to Jessica's. She didn't bother to remove it.

"Oh, no, it was no trouble at all, James. Thanks for inviting us!" Jessica smiled as Melissa spoke. She was glad her friend wasn't hanging back like she would have a few months ago.

A slower song came on and the people in the background (there were a lot of them) split off into couples, some just picked a random person off from the crowd and danced with them. Jon was about to reach for Jessica when James asked, his eyes directly on Jon who was behind them as he spoke, "Would you like to dance?" Jon didn't expect her to say yes, so he relaxed and waited.

"Well..." Jessica hesitated, earning a smile from Jon. "I'd love to, actually." She finished. James smiled, turning it into a smirk as he looked over Jess' head at Jon. Jon just stared after them as James and _his_ girl walked away. He glared at Melissa.

"You said she wasn't going to pick him over me." She shrugged.

"I guess maybe this is your fault." She replied over her shoulder as she walked off into the crowd.

With that, she walked away, leaving Jon open mouthed and with a hurt pride.


	5. Haitus

OKay, well, as you may have noticied, I haven't updated yet.  
I don't think I will be for a little while because the hard drive on my laptop crashed. I've gotten my new one, but I'm trying (and hoping desperatley) that I can get everything off of it. But that might take a while. And if I can't...well, I doubt I'll have much incentive to draw, write, or do anything. I had all my schoolwork on there as well.  
So, until further notice, Midnight Hunt and all my other stories are put on hold. Not too sure if anyone will take notice, but hey, may as well put this up.  
Sorry if you were looking forward to a new chapter; I won't give up on this, but it'll be on hold for a bit.  
That's all ~Papery 


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